Rabbi Eli Kavon lectures on "The Synagogue, the Cantor, and the Music" for Grand Edventures

Topic: The Synagogue, the Cantor, and the Music"
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 11:15 am
Temple Torah
West Boynton Beach, Florida

This lecture is part of the "Grand Edventures" hostel. For more information, call (954) 354-1077.

Bar Kokhba--Religious Zionist

Yigael Yadin, the prominent Israeli archeologist and statesman, made an extraordinary discovery in the Judean desert, near Ein Gedi, in 1961. Yadin and his excavation team found in a canyon crevice letters signed by Simon Bar Kosiba.. In the letters, Bar Kosiba describes himself as the leader of an independent Jewish state that rebelled against the might of the Roman Empire for three years, flourishing from 132 to 135 CE. Yadin’s discovery shed light on the history of the rebellion led by Bar Kosiba, providing missing pieces of information on the insurrection led by the man who is better known today as “Bar Kokhba.” On the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer, Jews in Israel build bonfires and conduct student field days to celebrate the three-year revolt against Rome and the exploits of Bar Kokhba. Bar Kokhba is especially important in Israel today because he was the last leader of a sovereign Jewish State in Israel before the rise of Zionism in the modern epoch.

 

We know little of the origins of the rebellion led by Simon Bar Kosiba. This is a great loss for historians today—there was no chronicler of the caliber of Josephus to record the second great ancient rebellion against Rome. We know much of the Great Revolt in 66-70 because the Jewish historian wrote his eyewitness account of the events in The Jewish War. Alas, Josephus was already dead at the time of the second revolt led by Bar Kosiba. Ancient Roman historian Dio Cassius, one of the few sources we have on the second rebellion, states that the Jewish uprising against Rome was ignited by the provocative plan of Hadrian, the Roman emperor, to raise a temple to Jupiter in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount and convert the former Jewish capital into a Roman colony. According to other ancient sources, Hadrian’s plan to outlaw circumcision—in a general ban on any form of self-mutilation, as perceived by the emperor—was the cause for the revolt. The Jewish forces held out against the might of the Roman Empire for three years. The revolt was no minor skirmish—Hadrian summoned legions from Britain to crush the rebellion. Archeologists have discovered coins minted during the rebellion that indicate Jewish control of the holy city of Jerusalem during the years of war. The letters founded by Yadin more than 50 years ago reinforce the image of Bar Kokhba as an able military leader who demanded utmost obedience from his troops. But one letter, in particular, is fascinating in providing an insight into Bar Kokhba’s life as a religious Jew.

 

Bar Kokhba writes to one “Yehudah bar Menashe.” The military leader has sent two donkeys to Yehonatan bar Be’ayan and to Masabala in order that they shall pack and send to the camp “palm branches and citrons.” Bar Kokhba wants Yehudah to send others who will “bring you myrtles and willows.” His final words are an order to see that “they are tithed and send them to the camp…Be well.” Bar Kokhba is celebrating the waiving of the four species as part of the Sukkot holiday! The military leader is not just a military leader but a Jew of great faith. He takes time out from important strategic and political planning to celebrate the Jewish pilgrimage festival in his fortress at Beitar. Bar Kokhba is not a forerunner of Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon—although he does share his heroism with them. Bar Kokhba is, in fact, much more of a Religious Zionist, if one can actually call him a “Zionist.” Zionism is a modern movement—but its roots in Jewish history and in the Hebrew Bible is deep. Bar Kokhba is a harbinger of the modern phenomenon of Religious Zionism, especially as expressed by the genius of the movement, Abraham Isaac Kook.

 

This aspect of Bar Kohba’s career has been ignored by Zionists. One example is great Zionist founder Max Nordau’s letter of June 1903 to the Bar Kokhba Gymnastic Club in Berlin. Nordau applauded the young Jews in the club for their athletic prowess—they were not the meek Jews in “the dimness of sunless houses” who pored over Talmudic tractate from morning to night. These young men were “going back to a glorious past” in which “Bar Kokhba was a hero who refused to know defeat.” Nordau coined the term “Muskeljuden”—literally “muscle-Jews”—in praising the emphasis of their physical strength and their pride in defending themselves. No doubt, Nordau was right—but not totally accurate. Bar Kokhba did not just stand for a military prowess that was a forerunner of Political Zionism. Bar Kokhba was a Jew who performed Jewish rituals, prayed to the God of Israel, and fought to stop the Roman desecration of holiness.

 

On Lag Ba’Omer we celebrate Bar Kokhba—the military and political leader. But the man was much more than just the forerunner of the Israeli military heroes of today. He is the epitome of the Jew who could not imagine Judaism without the Torah of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the people of Israel.

 

 

 

 

Rabbi Eli Kavon is Scholar-in-Residence at Beth Ami Congregation

Rabbi Eli Kavon
Scholar-in Residence Weekend
January 25, 26, 27, 2013
Beth Ami Congregation
Boca Raton, Florida
Topic for Weekend: "New Perspectives on the Ancient History of Israel"

Friday evening service, January 25--"King David and the Politics of Israeli Archaeology"
Saturday morning service, January 26--"The Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls"
Saturday lunch, January 26--"Yavneh and Masada: A Tale of Two Paradigms"
Sunday brunch, January 27--"Bar Kokhba: Zionist Hero or Failed Messiah?"

Please RSVP if you are attending

Chanukah: The End of Martyrdom

The legend of "Hannah and Her Seven Sons' seems to epitomize the holiday of Chanukah. Hannah's sons, from oldest to youngest, are ordered by the evil King Antiochus to violate the Torah. Each son, in turn, refuses to desecrate the Name of God and is executed. Mother Hannah urges all of her sons to die sanctifying the God of Israel. After they are all dead, she kills herself. This is the first act of martyrdom in history--believers willing to die in testament to the truth of their faith. Hannah's sons and Hannah herself are seen as the paradigm of the ancient "Hasidim," those pious Jews willing to die in 167 BCE rather than submit to a wicked Hellenist who wanted to destroy their Judaism.

Yet, the real paradigm for Chanukah is not martyrdom but defiance. Judah Maccabee's genius was in challenging the Jewish movement toward self-annihilation in the Name of God. While the pious ones refused to carry a sword on the Sabbath and allowed themselves to be slaughtered, Judah provided the alternative of fighting for survival on the holiest day of the week. The story of Chanukah is the story of defiant Jews who stood up both for religious freedom and political independence. Judah and his brothers did not want to die in the Name of God. They wanted to sanctify the God of Israel by achieving victory on the battlefield and defeating the enemies of the Jewish people. This is a stance that is far removed from the martyrdom of Hannah and her sons. In fact, the Maccabees actively rejected the cult of martyrdom.

The revival of martyrdom as a Jewish ideal arose with the decline of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel and the end of Jewish political independence. The legend of the "Ten Martyrs"--the Roman Empire's execution of the leading scholars of Judaism as part of the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE--seized the imagination of Jews who were searching for empowerment in the face of defeat. Jewish chroniclers, writing a generation after the Crusader massacre of Jews in the Rhineland 900 years ago,  idealized dying in the Name of God, even if it meant that parents massacred their children rather than subject them to conversion to Christianity. Throughout most of Jewish history in the Diaspora life was good and Jews did not wander but thrived. However, when tragedy struck the Jews through persecution by Christians and Msulims, the ideal of martyrdom was trotted out as the act of ultimate faith. The tales of dying in the Name of God did serve their purpose--they strengthened the faith of the survivors and gave them fortitude to continue to live their lives as Jews.

The events of the past 100 years have impacted the role of martyrdom as a legitimate vehicle for Jewish expression of faith and piety. Judah Maccabee's rejection of dying in the Name of God and his willingness to fight back--this is the paradigm that inspires us in the post-Holocaust epoch. Zionists were not alone in rejecting "Masada's second fall." Rabbi Menachem Ziemba, a representative of the non-Zionist Agudas Yisroel in Warsaw and an Orthdox Jew to the core, advocated resistance to the Nazis based on "halakhah," Jewish law. The Jewish people and the world have forgotten Ziemba's heroic stance. In January of 1943, at a meeting of the remnant of the Warsaw ghetto leadership, Ziemba admitted that the stance of martyrdom in the face of Nazi genocide could not be defended. The Germans wanted to destroy every Jewish man, woman, and child. The Nazis would leave nobody alive to be inspired by martyrdom. Rabbi Ziemba rejected the traditional response of martyrdom, bravely recalibrating the contours of Jewish response to persecution. He stated only months before the ghetto revolt: "Halakhah demands that we fight and resist to the very end with unequaled determination and valor for the sake of Sanctification of the Divine Name."

Ziemba's stancce was a rejection of the ideal of Jews dying in the gas chambers of Treblinka with the "Sh'ma" on their lips. Rather, the ideal for Ziemba was to pick up a gun, believe in God, and fight back. He supported this even while knowing that many of the ghetto fighters were not religious Jews and would reject the Torah that he observed and adhered to in the hell of the ghetto. Although we should not place the label of "Religious Zionist" on Menachem Ziemba, his spirit of cooperation with Zionist Socialists, Bundists and Revisionists in Warsaw is in the best tradition of love for Israel of the great Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.

Rabbi Ziemba was cut down by Nazi bullets in the early days of the Warsaw Ghetto rebellion. He defended his faith in God and his adherence to the Torah to his last breath. But the reality of genocide forced him to reconsider the ideal of martyrdom.Martyrdom is no longer a valid Jewish response to persecution. Ziemba was a man of faith but was also a realist. He had the courage to redefine Jewish law to face human and Jewish reality. In many ways, he has a wonderful and brave harbinger in Judah Maccabee. As admirable and inspiring as the actions of Hannah and her seven sons, most Jews today would agree that--in the shadow of the Shoah and in the coming reality of a nuclear Iran--better to live in the Name of God than to die as a martyr. We must take destiny into our own hands. That, to me, is the message of Chanukah.

Rabbi Eli Kavon lectures on The Intellectual Assault on Zionism and the West

Topic: "The Intellectual Assault on Zionism and the West"
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Beth Ami Congregation
Boca Raton, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on Jew versus Jew in The Promised Land

Topic: "Jew versus Jew in Israel"
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 7 pm
Temple Sinai
Hollywood, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on The Intellectual Assault on Zionism and the West

Topic: "The Intellectual Assault on Zionism and the West"
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tradition of the Plam Beaches
West Palm Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures at NSU on Cold War Politics and Realities

Topic: "From the Rosenbergs to Reagan: Reflections on the Cold War"
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University
Davie, Florida

Eli Kavon on Power and Prophecy in Midstream

My essay on power and prophecy appears in the Spring 2011 issue of Midstream, a journal of Jewish and Zionist politics and thought. "Political Power and the Prophet: Ahab, Elijah, and Naboth's Vineyard" is a study of power in the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. The essay is based on a paper I composed for Dr. Zohar Raviv in 2009. At the time, I was a doctoral student at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies in downtown Chicago. Thanks to Zohar for his inspiration and wisdom. Many thanks to Midstream editor Leo Haber for continuing to publish my work in his journal's pages.

Eli Kavon Presents Paper at University of Nanjing Symposium

I had the honor of presenting a paper at the University of Nanjing for an "International Symposium on Monotheism and Postmodernism." Xu Xin, the driving force behind Jewish Studies in China, invited me to the conference four months ago. I lectured on "Abraham Geiger and Abraham Isaac Kook: Messianism's Return to History." Many thanks to the other professors from the US, Israel, Japan, Canada, Australia, and for those teachers from throughout China--it was wonderful to participate in this historic event with you. I owe a great debt to Xu Xin--his students are impressive in their dedication to Jewish Studies and their keen interest in monotheism.

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on Prophecy and Power

Topic: "Prophecy and Power: The Covenant and Prophetic Legacy."
Monday, May, 9 2011.
Nova Southeastern University's Lifelong Learning Institute.
Davie, Florida.

This is the last lecture in a series on "The Confluence of Genius."

Eli Kavon lectures on The Future of Jerusalem

Topic: "Jerusalem: Divided Capital or United City?" Thursday, April 14, 2011 Forum at Deer Creek Deerfield Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on Emerson and the New Americans

Topic: "Emerson and the New Americans" Monday, April 11, 2011 The Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University Davie, Florida Part of a lecture series for the LLI on "The Confluence of Genius"

Eli Kavon on "Kurosawa and the Jewish Question" in The Jerusalem Report

Please read my opinion essay on the great Japanese filmmaker Kurosawa and the influence he should have on the way Jews make movies. The essay--it appears in the current issue of "The Jerusalem Report"-- is a tribute to Japan in these tough times, although I wrote it before the catastrophe that has hit that nation.

Eli Kavon lectures on Middle East Turmoil and the Jewish Future

Topic: "A World on Fire: Middle East Turmoil and the Jewish Future"
Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 7:00 pm
Temple Sinai of Hollywood
1400 N. 46th Ave.
Hollywood, Florida 33021
(954) 987-0026

This lecture is sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Broward Community Relations Committee and Temple Sinai of Hollywood.

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on The Russian Genius of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky

Topic: "Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: In Search of the Russian Soul"
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University
Davie, Florida

This is part of my continuing series on "The Confluence of Genius."

Eli Kavon lectures for CAJE Winter Hostel on The UN

Topic: "The United Nations: Global Force or Global Farce?"
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
CAJE Winter Hostel
Posnack JCC
Davie, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on The Ancient Roots of Modern Democracy

Topic: "The Ancient Roots of Modern Democracy: Athens or Jerusalem?"
Thursday, January 20, 2011
NW Regional Library
Coral Springs, Florida

Lecture hosted by the Friends of the Coral Springs Libraries for a meeting of the Friends of the Broward County Libraries.

Eli Kavon lectures on The Future of the United Nations

Topic: 'The United Nations: Global Force or Global Farce?"
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tradition of the Palm Peaches
West Palm Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on David Irving and Holocaust Denial

Topic: "David Irving, Iran, and the New Holocaust Deniers"
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Jewish Couples Club of the Palm Beaches
Boca Raton, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on Dante and The Renaissance

Topic: "The Renaissance: From Dante to Pico"
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University
Davie, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on Zionism's Rejection of Imperialism

Topic: "The Early Zionists and the Challenge to Empire"
Monday, December 27, 2010
Century Plaza Library
Deerfield Beach, Florida

This is the second lecture in a five-part series on "The Zionist Century: How The Jewish State Has Transformed Jews and Judaism."

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on Paul and the Church Fathers

Topic: "The Church Fathers: Of Orthodoxy and Heresy"
Monday, December 13
The Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University
Davie, Florida

This is the third in an eight-part lecture series on "The Confluence of Genius."

Eli Kavon lectures for Grand Edventures on The Crusades

Topic: "The Crusades: Mythology and History"
Monday, December 6, 2010
Temple Torah
Boynton Beach, Florida

My lecture is sponsored by the three-day Mini-Session of Grand Edventures.

Eli Kavon lectures on The Land of Israel in the Jewish Imagination

Topic: "The Land of Israel in the Jewish Imagination"
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Century Plaza Library
Deerfield Beach, Florida

This is the first lecture in a five-part series at the library on "The Zionist Century: How Israel has Transformed Jews and Judaism."

Eli Kavon lectures on The Western War Against Militant Islam

Topic: "The Western War Against Militant Islam"
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wynmoor
Coconut Creek, Florida

This is the last of a series on "The World at War." Note: The purpose of this class is not to attack Islam. There are extremists in the Islamic world who pose a threat to our civilization. They must be exposed. Our country and her allies in Europe and in the Middle East need to identify who are our enemies in this war. If we cannot identify our enemies, why are fighting in the first place?

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on Religion and the Renaissance

Topic: "Religion and the Renaissance"
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Classic Residence
Plantation, Florida

and

Classic Residence
Boca Raton, Florida

These two lectures are sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University.

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on The Myth of the Zionist Crusader

Topic: "The Myth of the Zionist Crusader"
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Classic Residence
Aventura, Florida

This lecture is sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University.

Eli Kavon lectures for Brandeis on Early Zionist Thought

Topic: "The Early Zionists and the Rothschilds"
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Brandeis National Committee
Pembroke Pines, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for CAJE on Zionism and Socialism

Topic: 'Marxism, Socialism and Zionism"
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Posnack JCC, Davie, Florida

This is the seventh class in a 30-week series on "Tragedy, Triumph, and Transformation: The Jewish Encounter with Modernity."

Eli Kavon lectures for NSU on the Genius of Ancient Athens

Topic: "Ancient Athens: Debating, Democracy, and Dictatorship"
Monday, November 15, 2010
Lifelong Learning Institute
Nova Southeastern University
Davie, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on Western Religion in the Age of Kabbalah

Topic: "Western Religion in the Age of Kabbalah"
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Tamarac Branch Library
Tamarac, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for CAJE on The Odyssey of Nathan Birnbaum

Topic: "The Odyssey of Nathan Birnbaum"
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
CAJE of Broward County
Posnack JCC
Davie, Florida

This is the sixth in a year-long lecture series on "Tragedy, Triumph, and Transformation: The Jewish Encounter with Modernity."

Eli Kavon lectures at Wynmoor on The World at War

Topic: "World War I: The War to End All Wars?"
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wynmoor
Coconut Creek, Florida

(First in a four-week series on "The World at War")

Eli Kavon lectures for Brandeis on Russia and the Czars

Topic: "Twilight of the Czars: The Russian Empire"
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Brandeis National Committee
Hills Chapter Study Groups
Pembroke Pines, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on The Founding Fathers and Judaism

Topic: "America's Founding Fathers and Judaism"
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Carlisle
Lantana, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for Coral Lakes Hadassah on The UN

Topic: "The United Nations: Global Force or Global Farce?"
Monday, November 1, 2010
Coral Lakes Hadassah
Boynton Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on Jewish Power in the Shadow of the Holocaust

Topic: "Jewish Power in the Shadow of the Holocaust"
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Morris Alex Culture Club at Huntington Pointe
Delray Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures for Grand Edventures on Holocaust Denial

Topic: "David Irving, Iran, and the New Holocaust Deniers"
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Temple Emeth, Delray Beach, Florida

The lecture is part of a three-day program sponsored by Grand Edventures

Eli Kavon on "The Hebrew Revival" for CAJE of Broward County

Topic: "Ben-Yehudah, Bialik, and Agnon: The Hebrew Revival"
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Posnack JCC, Davie, Florida

(Fourth in a series for CAJE of Broward on "Tragedy, Triumph, and Transformation: The Jewish Encounter with Modernity.")

Eli Kavon lectures on the Myth of the Zionist Crusader

Topic:"The Myth of the Zionist Crusader"
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Classic Residence
Boca Raton, Florida
Sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University

Eli Kavon lectures on the Myth of the Zionist Crusader

Topic: "The Myth of the Zionist Crusader"
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tradition of the Palm Beaches
West Palm Beach, Florida

Eli Kavon lectures on The Confluence of Genius for Nova Southeastern University LLI

Yesterday I began a year-long series of lectures on "The Confluence of Genius" for the Lifelong Learning Institute of Nova Southeastern University. In the first lecture I asked the question--"What is Genius?" Upcoming lectures in the series include ancient Athens, Bible prophets, the Church Fathers, Renaissance Humanists, the French Enlightenment, Russian literary genius, and "Emerson and the New Americans."

For more information on this series or the LLI, call (954) 262-8471.

In Memory of Cantor Paul Kavon (1924-1999)

Tonight and tomorrow--my father's eleventh yahrzeit. Cantor Paul Kavon was an exceptional man, a person who devoted his life to his people and to his family. From the forests of Germany in 1945 to serving as a Hebrew tutor in Florida after his retirement--a great person, a true mentsch. We all miss him. His memory is a blessing to all who knew him.